A World Of Blue
by WritingTrash
Summary: She didn't want to be the Queen of Spades. She couldn't be the Queen of Spades. But here she was. Cardverse AU USxFem!UK
1. Out Of The Blue

**Hello everyone! I've decided to do another one-shot. (See Updates Below: This is not a one-shot) Maybe. This might turn into a long story because I have no self control. But now it's a one-shot!**

 **So this in the Cardverse AU, I've been obsessed with it lately. Like I've read 4 stories ranging from 12 chapters to 41 and a few one-shots. (If anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to read some!) And its with USxFem!UK, because there aren't enough of those. And I love it. I tried to find some fanon for Cardverse, but I couldn't find any so I'll just go off of what I know/read.**

 **I also decided in this story, Alfred was the one who was more experienced in the whole royalty thing, I don't see enough stories with that. The whole deal will be explained further in the story. I sort of used the social classes from the Selection series. I really like those books too. Enjoy!**

 **Update: It's to 1300 words and I'm not even to plot yet!**

 **Update: Yeah, this isn't going to be a one-shot. I'm accidentally adding too much detail. I don't know what it's going to end up being, but now it's up to 2200 words.**

 **Update: I told you I don't have any self control, this ended up being like 17000 words when it was supposed to be a one-shot. And I haven't even edited a lot of stuff. I mostly wrote this to practice describing and writing filler and details. There isn't anything super huge or a great plot, I just like Cardverse, and I like USxFem!UK, so wrote this.** **In other stories I try to aim for about 1000 words per chapter, but a** **ll the chapters in this are going to be around 2000 words, to make the story less chapters and because I didn't mean for this to end up this long. It's going to end up being about 9 chapters, give or take, I haven't divided everything up yet, and updated every Sunday. That's it for now, enjoy!**

 **Human Names:**

 **America: Alfred F. Jones**

 **China: Wang Yao**

 **Fem!England: Alice Kirkland**

 **Fem!Sweden: Beatrice Oxenstierna**

 **Canada: Matthew Williams Jones**

 **Hungary: Elizabeta Héderváry**

 **Russia: Ivan Braginski**

 **Japan: Honda Kiku**

 **N. Italy: Feliciano Vargas**

 **Lichtenstein: Lilli Zwingli**

 **Switzerland: Vash Zwingli**

 **Fem!Lithuania: Emilija Laurinaitis**

 **Fem!Poland: Florentyna Łukasiewicz**

 **Poland: Feliks Łukasiewicz**

 **Fem!Latvia: Karina Galante**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

When Alice woke up and rolled over, the last thing she expected was on her right hand, the mark of the Queen of Spades. She screamed. Falling off of the lumpy mattress onto the cold floor of her quarters. Thankfully at this hour, no one else was still in the dormitory. Alice inspected the mark, it seemed genuine. Far too real for her liking.

It was tattooed on the top of her hand, not a line out of place. It was a navy blue spade, about 10 centimeters, with decorative swirls and a cursive "Q" in the center. She knew the symbol well, it was all over the castle and most clothes any important people wore, just minus the "Q".

"Alic'!" The maid jumped, looking up to the doorway and instantly hiding her hand in the tangled sheets. She was still on the floor. It was just the head maid for her group, an intimidating yet nice woman named Beatrice Oxenstierna. "Why 're you on the fl'r?" She asked, the accent had been a struggle to understand at first, but Alice had known the woman for a year by now and understood her easily. She had been hired right before the king's coronation, and had worked as a maid ever since.

"I er- fell. I'm getting up now!" Alice stood, still hiding her hand from view, the other maid shrugged and left her to get dressed.

While the maid dressed in the normal uniform of the castle maids, a dark blue dress and a white frilly apron, she internally panicked. There no way she could be queen! There must be some mistake, someone drew it on her during the night, or the clocks made a mistake. There was no way she, a low class maid, could ever be Queen of Spades. Not to mention marry King Alfred.

To hide the mark from view, Alice wrapped her hand with bandages, if anyone asked, she'd just say she hurt it in some way.

The blond left her quarters, fully dressed and ready for her work. In the main room, a room that connected all the sleeping quarters of the Spadian maids, Alice approached Beatrice to hear her own placement for the day. The duties of maids were often rotated, most maids had the same few places they were always scheduled, and some maids were forbidden to go to certain places. Alice wasn't allowed to work in the kitchen for certain reasons. She usually was stationed in a cleaning job, laundry, or to the king.

Being stationed to the king was her least favorite job. Mostly because she couldn't work well around him. Not because he was extremely handsome or anything! Alice thought it was because of his class. The king was born into the royal family, one of the Royals was always from the Jones family.

He has always been a one, the highest social class. Twos and threes were nobles, fours were rich merchants and factory CEOs. Fives usual got the nicer jobs, less hands on working, but sixes were the working class. Sevens got the lowest of the low and Eights were basically homeless. Alice was a six, pretty and hard working enough to be a castle maid. It was the nicest job she could probably get in her class, and it gave her a nice place to stay and enough food.

"Alic', you h've k'ng's duty." Beatrice called to her. A few other maids giggled around her, they loved that. They seemed to believe that if they could flirt enough with the king, they could get to be queen. Alice knew that the clocks chose the rulers, not the King.

Alice suppressed a sigh and left the lower quarters of the servants. She began to climb the stairs to the kitchen to pick up the King's breakfast.

The king's duty was to basically clean up his room and cater to his needs. That included reminding him to eat, he often forgot in his work load. It wasn't that it was a bad job, less stressful than most. King Alfred never asked for anything horrible, usually she just brought him food, cleaned his room, and delivered notes and papers to Jack Yao. Still for some reason, being there with the king was very nerve-wracking for the lower class maid.

Alice picked up the tray carrying the king's breakfast. It had coffee, she didn't understand how anyone could drink that bitter drink, and some pastries. She caught a glimpse of her bandaged hand, it had almost escaped her mind. She hoped it went away soon. The thought of being queen was horrifying to her. She'd have to a bunch of work all the time, help run Spades, and everything else that went with it. There were some upsides, she'd never have to worry about money or food or a having a home. But how could she be queen?

The clocks had to have made a mistake, there was _no_ _way_ Alice was the right choice. The most royal thing she'd ever done was when she worked the king's coronation and got to see all the other royals of Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs in person. But that was it. She was in no way royal and couldn't be queen.

Alice reached the king's study before she was ready to. The maid awkwardly knocked on the door while still balancing the tray. "Come in!" She heard him call from the inside. Alice opened the door to the study and was once again shocked by the stunning room. It was large, navy walls and long purple curtains that partly hid the outside world. There was an oak door that was slightly ajar on the other wall, she knew it led to the king's sleeping quarters. There were tall bookshelves with thick covers along most of the walls, breaking for windows. In the center was a beautifully crafted desk, wood that matched the bookshelves and the other wood accents. It was mostly covered with papers and books. King Alfred sat at it, writing on a paper in messy cursive.

He didn't really seem like a king to her. If you stripped him of his nice clothes and stuck him a crowd, you wouldn't be able to tell he was royalty. He was very handsome, she didn't like to dwell on that. His glasses partly hid his bright blue eyes and threatened to fall off the end of his nose. His golden hair was a mix between messy and neat, with one piece always standing up and flopping along with his movements.

King Alfred was the son of the previous king and queen, making him eligible to be one of the Royals just by birth. When his parents died in a shipwreak, King Alfred, then prince, woke up with the king's mark. The old Jack also retired, and a few months after that, Wang Yao showed his mark to the castle and was crowned Jack. It had been a year since the death of the previous Royals and the queen had still not been found, because Alice _couldn't_ be the queen.

He peeked up at her, but when he saw her he dropped his pen and straightened up. "Hey, Alice!" He smiled warmly at her. He had asked her name a few time, but by now he knew it. She guessed he did this with a lot of maids, but it gave her comfort that he at least cared enough to learn it.

"Good morning, Your Majesty." Alice bowed, and set the tray down in one of the few empty spots on the cluttered desk.

"I've told you, you don't have to call me that." He huffed, looked like a frustrated child. Alice smiled at him and started removing the meal from the tray.

"What would you prefer then? Your Highness?" She suggested.

Alfred took a sip of the coffee, what an awful drink, and shook his head."No way! I heard enough of that when I was younger. Alfred would work." Alice almost dropped the plate. He wanted her to call him by his name!? Did he do this with all the maids?

"If that's what you'd like, I suppose." Alice set the plate down in front of him, not meeting his gaze.

"Cool! Thanks!" He grinned, then he started to follow her right hand. "What happened to your hand?"

"I hurt it." Alice said quickly, hoping he wouldn't press the matter. Alfred didn't get the chance to.

A guard suddenly opened the door and bowed to the king,"Your Majesty, you're needed in the clock room."

Alfred glanced at her. "What for?"

"A _queen_ has been chosen." He answered and excused himself.

Alfred looked surprised, he glanced to Alice. "I'll be here cleaning." The maid bowed to him and the king left her alone.

Alice allowed the panic to return. The maid tried to distract herself with dusting the thick books, but it didn't help much. The mark alone didn't mean she was queen. It was the clocks that always sealed the choice. The hour hand on the clock would always follow its royal, like the king's clock's hour hand always was pointing to Alfred if he wasn't holding it. There had been situations in the past, people getting tattoos of the king, queen, or jack's marks then going to the castle and pretending that they were chosen by the clocks to be a ruler. When a clock was held by its respective Royal, it would tell time normally rather than the hour hand following it. That always showed who was pretending and who was actually chosen.

What if the clock chose _her_? She _couldn't_ be queen. She didn't know the first thing about being royalty, how could the clocks choose _her_ , out of every other single Spadian?

Alfred wasn't gone for long, but it felt like he was. Alice was dusting off a lower bookshelf when he returned, carrying a clock. "Oh, hey! You're still here." He said, setting the clock down on the desk. It was in the shape of a spade with intricate engravings, all the clocks looked liked that, but in different metals for each Royal. The king's was made of gold, the queen's silver, and the jack's bronze. The clock on the desk was silver, and the hour hand was pointed to her. But the king hadn't noticed.

Alice had two choices, run, or tell him. If she ran, she might be able to get away from the castle, but anyone could follow the hour hand to her, she could never hide. Or she told him, that'd be accepting the role as queen, although there was no doubt in Alice's mind that she would be a horrible queen. She decided she do the latter, running wouldn't change anything, and maybe it would turn out okay. Alice didn't want to be queen, she didn't think she could do it, she should do it, or in any way live up to the standards set by the queens before her, but she had to, for some ungodly reason.

"Alfred, may I show you something?" Alice started unraveling the bandages behind her.

The king looked at her in confusion,"Um, sure." Alice crumpled up the bandage in her left and offered her right to Alfred. He immediately took it, inspecting the mark. "You're the-" He stopped, looking back to her with wide eyes. The king dropped her hand, and returned to his desk. He picked up the silver clock and held it out to her. "It'll prove it, if you are or not." He seemed excited, but not trying to get his hopes up.

Alice hesitantly took the queen's clock. It's ticks filled the almost silent room, telling the time _perfectly_ , 9:36. She watched the silver hands and numbers, not believing. She was the Queen of Spades. Oh bloody hell, she was the Queen of Spades.

"You're the queen!" Alfred exclaimed loudly, laughing. In a second, the king had embraced her tightly.

The queen stood there in his hug, not sure what to make of it. She was queen and her king was hugging her. Her king, it was odd to think of Alfred like that. He broke apart eventually, Alice didn't hug him back, too shocked to do anything. He looked down at her, they were really close, she had to notice.

"Alice? You okay?" The king asked her softly.

"Could this be a mistake?" Alice looked up to him, he was a lot taller than she was, she only came up to his jaw.

"The clocks _aren't_ wrong. They chose me to be king." He frowned.

"But you're a great king! You were raised for this! I _can't_ be a bloody queen!" Alice exclaimed, the anxiety was rising, she felt a little light headed.

"I thought that at first too. It gets better."

"I- I can't." Alice shook her head and tried to give the clock back to Alfred. He didn't take it. "Take it, wanker! I can't be queen!" She felt dizzy.

"Alice!" He held her shoulders, she was thankful for the support because she couldn't feel her legs anymore. Before either could say anything else, the queen passed out in his arms.

 **Also, for each chapter name, it'll be some blue metaphor, I like naming the chapters certain ways for stories. ("The" for When The Day Met The Night, "And" for Cursed, "Of" for another upcoming story, what ever I come up with next.)**


	2. Blue Blood

**Special thanks to justlikeCanada, for being the first reviewer of this, and also for just following all my stories. You're great and I love your support!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Loki: The clocks aren't in charge of their** **lives or control them. If something were to happen to the clock, it wouldn't change the person it belongs to. They are still destined to be king, queen, jack, whatever, it just would be harder to find out. The clocks are kind of just a refined and a conformation, oh yeah, this persons this Royal. The clock says so. So breaking the clock wouldn't kill anyone. Thanks for reviewing and reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

When Alice awoke, she was not in her own quarters. She was in the king's quarters. Oh no, she was in the king's quarters. Alice held up her hand and the queen's mark was still there. It wasn't a dream.

The queen looked around her surroundings, she had been in the room plenty of times cleaning. The walls were the same navy blue as his study, and the wood of the four poster bed matched the desk and bookshelves and the door that jointed the study and the bedroom. There were two nightstands on either side of the bed and a large double window with purple curtains that opened to a balcony. The bed was extremely comfortable, fluffy pillows and an abundance of silky sheets and thick comforters. It also smelled like the king, a mix of the sea air and coffee and chocolate. It was odd, but it made sense for him. There were a few other things, a wardrobe, a smaller desk, but the room was surprisingly simple for the King of Spades.

"Alice! You're awake!" She glanced to the door that led to the hall. Alfred had entered and was already at her side.

"What happened?" She asked, coming across weaker than she meant.

"We figured out you were queen and you fainted. You kept saying stuff like 'I can't.' and stuff. So I just put you here since it was closer. You okay?" He smiled at her, Alice felt her cheeks heat.

"I'm fine. Am I really the queen?" Alice sat up, still hugging the top comforter.

"Yeah! Isn't that great? I was so worried it'd be someone I hate, or some creepy chick! But then it was you and I was so happy and- Why are you so pale!? Don't pass out again, Alice!" He babbled, grabbing her hands at the last part.

"I'm not going to pass out again. I'm just going to be a horrible queen." Alice scowled.

Alfred looked thoughtful,"No you're not! You'll be a great queen. You're smart and pretty and resourceful and a bunch of other good stuff! Plus you'll have me and Yao to help you out. It's a lot harder doing alone, those couple moths without Yao were miserable." He released her hands, but he didn't seem like he wanted to, and Alice missed his touch.

"Thank you. I should be going, I still have work to do-"

Alice tried to leave but he gently pushed her back down. "No way! You need to rest more, I already told everyone who you were and you can meet them all later. As for your work as a maid, that's over, you're queen now! I mean, you still have to have a coronation and everything, but that's later."

"I don't want to steal your room, though." She returned.

"It's fine, but if you want to, I can take you to the queen's quarters. They're close by." She had her own quarters? Alice nodded and he helped her out of the bed. He insisted on holding her hand even though she really didn't need to be steadied.

"Here it is!" The king had lead her down the hall, only a little past Alfred's rooms, to a door similar to the king's. Alfred opened it for her and Alice observed in shock. It was a larger room than her childhood house had been. It had lighter blue walls than Alfred's room and midnight blue curtains. The cherry wood all matched within the bed, nightstands, wardrobe, vanity, desk, and even more in the study next door. There were bookshelves and several windows. Everything looked perfectly neat and untouched, but not dusty.

"This is all mine?" She looked back to Alfred to confirm it, the king nodded, grinning at her amazement.

"I'm going to come get you for dinner later, there you can meet Yao and some nobles. Then tomorrow we can talk about everything that's going to happen in the next month." The king explained.

"What's next month?"

"Your coronation."

Alfred left her in the bedroom and Alice already felt overwhelmed. She hadn't even started her actual job as queen! The former maid sighed and plopped ungracefully on the bed, it felt just as nice as Alfred's, minus his scent. After that the new queen explored the room and the study, then read through some books before her head started hurting and she decided to rest some.

At some point she must've fallen asleep, because Alfred was already softly shaking her awake for dinner. "Hey, Your Highness! Time to wake up!"

"Oh, don't call me that!" Alice grumbled into the pillow, she rolled over to face the king.

He was smiling warmly at her,"Well, dinner's in twenty minutes so you should probably get dressed. The seamstresses left something for you, they were glad to finally have a girl to design dresses for, apparently Yao and I aren't fun to design stuff for." He talked so carelessly and happily. Was he not stressed as king? Or was that just how he was, happy and always talking?

"Thank you, I'll change now." Alfred took that to leave, saying he'd be in his room when she was ready. So he was going to walk her to the dining room?

Alice climbed out of the wonderful bed and looked to where a dress had newly been placed on the outside of the wardrobe.

It was quite beautiful, the nicest thing she had ever that was meant for her. It was pretty semi-sweetheart royal blue dress, hung on the wardrobe door. It came a few centimeters above her knees. There were pearls lining the waist line and scattered over the skirt and top. There was a pair of black heels and ribbons probably for her hair. It seemed a little dark for her first dinner as queen, but still lovelier than anything else she had ever seen or owned. Alice really wasn't totally sure if it was meant for her

The queen got dressed and assessed her reflection. The dress fit her a little loosely, but most things did, she guessed she'd have to be measured for the future. She used the ribbons to put her hair in the usual pigtails. After staring at her reflection and judging it for a while, wishing she could change things about the woman starting back, she left her quarters.

Alice reached Alfred's room and knocked. It was quiet for a second, but then the king opened the door to her. Alice bowed to him out of old habit, just this morning she had been his maid. He immediately stopped her and pulled her back to her full height, she still had to look up to him though. "No more of that! We're on the same level, well, we will be. But you don't need to bow to ever again!" He told her, Alice nodded, it'd take some time getting used to that. Alfred quickly looked over her dress, quick enough to not be staring, but slow enough to appreciate it. "You look really nice, Alice." He smiled at her again.

Alice looked back to the dress and smoothed the skirt, hoping he didn't notice her blush. Why was she suddenly blushing at him!? "Thank you, I think it's a little big, but most things on me are. Should we go?"

"Yeah! Come on!" He took her hand and lead her away from their bedrooms. After working at the castle for so long, Alice knew her way to most things easily. The king's and queen's bedrooms and studies were on one side of the hall, a grand staircase case in the middle, the the jack's bedroom and study was on the other side. Down the stairs was another large and long hall, then it led to the dining room and a ballroom. The two could merge into one huge room if need for parties. Today, just the dining room part was needed.

They entered the large room together, it had purple walls and tall glamorous windows. A long table was in the center of the room with many doors on all the walls leading to various places. Most of the nobles were already seated, but they all stood at their entrance and bowed deeply to her and Alfred. She noticed the jack at the nearest end of the table and he had bowed along the nobles, but not as deeply.

Alice had seen Jack Yao frequently around the castle. It was known the jack was older than Alice and Alfred, she was twenty-two and he was twenty, but it wasn't that obvious looking at the last Royal. Alfred finally released her hand, again she wished he hadn't, when they reached the jack's side of the table. "Hey Yao, what's up?" Alfred asked so casually, meanwhile Alice thought she might pass out again from the eyes of everyone else.

"Nothing, just trying to run a country while you're busy tiáoqíng with your new queen." He sassily replied, then turned to the new queen as Alfred blushed. "Nǐ hǎo, I am Jack Wang Yao, Yao is fine. I look forward to working along you-aru." He bowed the offered his hand. Alice noticed the

Alice took it and shook,"It's nice to meet you, Yao."

Dinner started, Alfred sat at the head of the table with Yao on the left and Alice on the right. Several of the nobles striked up a conversation, and Alice spent most of dinner just talking about herself, something rare these days.

The food was also amazing, full course meals, plenty of sides. Alice hadn't had that much to eat, ever. The meal finished and the nobles all bowed to them, saying it was nice to meet her and that she'd be a wonderful queen. Since their rooms were all in the same place, she started walking back with Alfred and Yao.

"See, that wasn't that hard." Alfred said once they had left. "They just wanted to get to know you."

"Says you. I remember my first dinner was very scary. You were brought up in royalty-aru. You don't understand how different this is for a lower-class person to suddenly become a Royal." Alice looked to Yao in surprise, she has no idea what he had been before he was chosen to be Jack.

"What did you do, before?" Alice asked, curious.

"I was a five and I worked at a family owned restaurant. It was doing well when I was chosen, but it hadn't always been that easy. And my family is large, I'm sure you'll meet some of them, a few are ambassadors to the other kingdoms, some just like to visit-aru. They are all ones now because of me, but some like to keep up the restaurant as a hobby." Yao explained as they reached the staircase.

"Hey! Being Royal all the time isn't that easy either! I didn't have many friends other than some stuck up noble kids and I was pretty bored all the time." The king justified.

Yao rolled his eyes and Alice fought to not. "If you need someone who was in your situation, don't be afraid to knock. I am just down the hall. Goodnight-aru."

"Thank you, goodnight Yao." The queen and jack bowed to each other respectively, then the jack retreated to his quarters.

They reached Alfred's room before he started talking again. "So tomorrow we're meeting in the royal study to talk about what's going to soon and plan some of the coronation."

"We?" Alice asked, not sure how many other people she'd have to meet.

"Oh well it's just me, you, and Yao. Do you know where that is?"

Alice thought it over, but the only studies she had ever visited were Alfred's and today, hers. "No, I'm not sure."

"That's okay, I'll come pick you up and we can walk there together. It shouldn't be too bad, we're just planning." They fell into an uneasy silence." So, goodnight. You can come get me if you need anything."

Alice nodded,"Goodnight, Alfred." She almost bowed, but remembered to not and he closed his door, leaving her alone in the hallway.

She returned to her own room, changed into a nice loose night gown, then returned to the fluffy bed. First day as Queen of Spades was over.

 **Blue blood is in reference to the blood, heredity, of a noble or royal family; aristocratic ancestry.**


	3. Blue Chamber

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

The next morning, Alice woke up before Alfred arrived, but it still wasn't that early, he'd probably be knocking soon. She noticed a new dress, a day dress that was simple, pale purple with spades stitched around the skirt. It was also sleeveless, and had grey heels that matched the spades and grey ribbons. Whoever did those dresses, they were definitely very skilled, she wondered how long it would be before she met them.

Alice got dressed and was tying up her second pigtail when she heard knocks at her door. "Come in." She called, it was weird to be on the other side of that, and Alfred opened the door.

"Hey, you're already up, yesterday when I knocked you didn't respond at all." He joked, leaning against the door waiting for her to finish.

"I'm usually an early riser for work, it might take a while to get over that habit." Alice told the king, she stepped back from the mirror to make sure the pigtails were even, then she crossed the room to Alfred.

"Ya' ready?" He asked.

"Yes. I'd think a king would have better grammar than that." Alice teased, shutting the door behind her. He grabbed her hand again, why was he suddenly doing that?

"You sound like my mom! She used to always talk about how I spoke, but I can't really help it. I can talk all important around people if I need to, but I prefer to speak how I usually do with my friends." He explained, smiling down at her for the last part.

"Are we friends?" Alice observed the halls they walked.

"I think so, do you want to be?"

"Yes, I'd like that."

"Cool!" They were already at another door and Alice didn't even know the way back to her own room. Maybe she didn't know the castle that well. He opened it for her and their hands broke. "So this is mainly where we'll be working when we're not in our own studies or meetings or something else. Only me, you, and Yao are allowed in here, others can enter, but only our permission."

The room was normal sized, bigger than her study but much smaller than the dining room. Most rooms were smaller than the dining room. The walls were a nice blue, and bookshelves covered the walls. There were also three desks in each corner, facing the middle of the room where a large table was. There were three seats at the table, too. Yao sat at one of the desks in the corner furthest from the door, he glanced up as they entered. "About time-aru." He muttered. The jack stood then sat at table in the center.

Alice noticed there was a vase of blue roses and many other blue and purple flowers as the centerpiece, at each desk there was a smaller arrangement of flowers. Yao's had statices and hydrangeas, the slightly cluttered deck that she guessed was Alfred's had violet chrysanthemums and delphiniums, and the empty one that had to be her's had peonies and anemones. The queen guessed they all meant something, but she had no idea as to what.

Alfred and Alice sat at the table as Yao began,"I think we should get the coronation planning out of the way first." They both agreed so he continued. "There are four main parts your coronation, the first is the actual crowning-aru. You'll be given your vows and you agree to them, you'll be crowned queen."

"I'm crowning you, since I'm the highest ranking Royal." Alfred added and Yao nodded along. It was helpful that she'd be crowned by someone she knew, perhaps make it a little less scary.

"After the coronation is the lunch. All the nobles will be coming and so will two of the Royals from each kingdom." The jack said.

"Just two?" Alice asked.

"One has to stay in the kingdom, it'll be the queen of each, since they'll want to meet you and either the king or the jack. I have a list of them, news of a new royal spreads fast despite what kingdom it's in-aru." Alice nodded to the list, she had seen some of them at the other coronations since she's worked at the castle, but none had ever come specifically to meet her. "There is Queen Elizabeta and King Ivan from Clubs. Queen Kiku, they don't have a king currently so Jack Feliciano must stay in Hearts. Then Queen Lilli and Jack Vash of Diamonds. I've met all the queens, they're all nice people, they just want to know you some so it shouldn't be that much trouble. Alfred will entertain King Ivan." There was a grumble from the usually happy king next to her. "And most Jack Vash is only coming because Queen Lilli is his sister and he is overly protective. He will just stay around out of ear-shot. They will be getting here a few days before the coronation and leaving a day or two after-aru."

Just meeting the royalty of the other kingdoms, nothing exciting. Alice sighed. "Then after that is the wedding."

The wedding! That's right, she had to marry Alfred. Alice glanced over at the king he smiled reassuringly at her. "What's after that?"

"The party, mostly just dancing and socializing. After that you're done." Alfred answered for him.

"Seems like a lot for one day." Alice answered, the crowning and the wedding were the scariest for her.

"It is, but you'll be happy it's just one day. It sounds like a lot more than it is, trust me." Alfred answered, Alice shrugged.

They continued talking about all the things she needed to learn for the coronation and all the things she had to learn for her reign. Alfred said he'd be teaching her most of it, Yao would help with the rest.

It must've been late morning when a man knocked, he said some things to Alfred at the door, then Alfred excused himself to a meeting. Alice decided she should say something about the wedding now. "Yao?"

"Hm?"

"Do I have to get married?" Alice asked softly. The jack smiled slightly and nodded. "It's not that Alfred is bad or anything. It's just, I've only really known him for a day. I was his maid before, but we never said anything really. And now I have to marry him in a month. I'd like to at least get to know him some more."

Yao looked thoughtful before responding. "Do you know why the clocks chose you-aru?"

"Some mistake probably." Alice grumbled.

"No. You were chosen because you're meant to be with him. The king and queen are meant to work well together and they are meant to fall in love. You and Alfred are soulmates. The clocks know it, I know it, because I see how you look at each other. It may not be quick or instantaneous, but it will happen. You can't rush things that last forever." The jack explained, she didn't know that part.

"If it makes you feel better, Alfred liked you before you were picked to be the queen."

"He- what?" She looked at the jack in shock, her cheeks flushed.

"He did. He was always talking about this maid who was blond and had green eyes and freckles. Aiyah! He was so lovesick-aru. He figured out your name at some point and he started asking the head maids to make sure you were scheduled for him. He said he would've asked you out if he wasn't king. Alfred knew that the queen was meant to be his soulmate, so he wasn't going to give you a chance because you weren't the queen. He didn't want to hurt you or him. Then you were chosen and he came running to my room, so excited that you were the queen." Yao explained with an amused expression.

The king had a bloody crush on her!? Alice's face fully red now. "You just get to know him over this next month, then we'll see about that marriage. I have some things to handle so I'll see you at dinner." Yao stood and left blushing Alice in the royal study.

The queen left out a whine and set her head on the table. Alfred already liked her! And she had no idea how she felt. And she had to learn how to rule over the next month. Alice huffed in defeat, what a mess.

The rest of the day she avoided the king. Really she avoided everyone, but specifically him. They saw each other at dinner but that was it. Alice read some books from her library then fell asleep in the late hours of the night.

The next morning she woke up to Alfred's knocks again. He was there for lessons. She got dressed in another beautiful dress that was left out for her, a navy blue day dress with swirling stitches and an illusion top, then followed him. The day consisted of learning manners and history and everything in between. Alfred was a decent teacher, summing up a lot of it and giving good tips he had figured out though the years. It was all still overwhelming despite his help.

The rest of the week was pretty similar, four more days of beautiful dresses left out for her, history, previous Royals, table manners, relations with kingdoms, what to say and what to not. It was so much, Alice felt exhausted every night when she was returned to her quarters. Thankfully Alfred was patient, something she didn't really expect from the bubbly king. If she got something wrong, or used the wrong fork, why were there so many to begin with, he nicely correct her. By Saturday she didn't feel like doing anything ever again. She was told that she'd have some more free time on the weekend and she was looking forward to it.

But around noon on Saturday, there was the knocking at her door again. Alice was laying on her bed reading an old history book that told of a war between Hearts and Clubs. It was centuries ago, and now all the kingdoms were in peace, but it odd to think of war. And since she was queen, she'd have the final say as to go to war or not. That part of the job was unsettling. "Come in." She called, hoping it wasn't time for another lesson. Alfred entered and Alice groaned and plopped her head down in the book.

"That's not nice." Alfred whined.

"Are you here for another lesson? Because I don't think I can handle any more today." Alice responded.

"Nope, I think you need a break, so I'm taking you somewhere." He smiled.

"Where?"

"You'll know when we get there."

"Fine."

"Yay! I'll be outside."

Alice got dressed in one of the purple spade dress from earlier in the week, she hadn't gotten a new one that day and put her hair up. Decided against the heels and picked a pair of flats from a different day. Then she joined the king in the hallway. He led her through the castle happily, not telling her where they were going despite how many times she asked.

It was only when they reached the gardens that they stopped. Alice had always liked the gardens of the castle, she had visited them sometimes while she worked, but she had never been in this part of the gardens. The queen looked over the area in silent amazement. It was a small sized clear area, there were stepping stones in the grass, creating a somewhat flat floor. In between the stones grew grass and small wild flowers. The perfectly trimmed bushes around the clearing provided privacy and some shade from the warm sun. It was one of those perfect spring days with just a small breeze. The flowers were of all shades of blue and purple. Roses, lilacs, peonies, chrysanthemums, and many more that Alice wasn't sure what they were, but pretty all the same. A large maple tree was in one corner of the yard, shading a whole part of it. It looked over a simple wooden table that was big enough to sit about four people comfortably, six if it was needed. There were four stools that matched the table too. On the table was a tray of food and two cups. One a tea cup and one a mug.

"What is this?" Alice looked back to Alfred, he was smiling at her, he looked happy just watching her.

"The queen's garden. Its been maintained since my mom. I used to played her with her when I was little. But it's yours now. Because you're the queen. You can do whatever with it, change it or-"

Alice shook her head in disagreement and he stopped. "It's perfect, I love it."

"Good! I wanted to show it to you myself. I thought we could, um, eat out here or something. One of the maids brought us stuff." Alfred gestured to the table, was he nervous?

Alice smiled at the nervous king and nodded. "That'd be lovely." He pulled out the chair for her before sitting across from her. The queen inspected the pastries on the plate while Alfred just grabbed first one.

"You don't have to inspect it." He laughed, watching her.

Alice shrugged and took one. "It's a habit, I'm used to my brothers messing with my food."

"You have brothers?" Alfred asked in surprise. She nodded.

"Three older and one younger. They like to mess with me." Alice took a bite of the pastry. It was a perfect mix of strawberry filling and vanilla and chocolate crust. She quickly took another.

"Do they work at the castle too?" The king questioned.

"No, the older ones are in the navy and the younger one lives with his girlfriend in the capital. They don't have much to do with me anymore." Alice sighed, she hadn't talked about her brothers in a while.

"We could invite them for the coronation if you want, all of Yao's family came for his." Alfred suggested, the queen immediately shot the idea down.

"If they had been involved with me the last couple years maybe, but they haven't. The only reason they'd come would be for the food." Alfred smiled at that and nodded.

"Makes sense, brothers can be a pain."

"Wait- do you have a brother."

"Yeah, twins. His name is Matthew."

Alice racked her brain for someone who would fit the description, but found none. "Since when?" He laughed at her confusion.

"Since birth! But don't worry, most people don't know about Mattie. He's the Ace of Spades."

"I didn't know there still were aces." Alice returned drinking some of the best tea she had ever had. The chefs were just as amazing as the seamstresses.

"You're not supposed to. The aces are around so if something were to happen and there was no one to rule. Like if all three of us died young and there were no heirs. The ace would step forward and show their mark to the nobles. They would take whatever place they need to, then the other two Royals would be found. Usually they're a sibling of the Royal heir, AKA me. No one other than the current Royals know their identity unless something happens. Mattie's good at being invisible so it's a good job for him. He's usually at events and people just assume he's a noble. I'm sure you'll meet him at some point, no one knows where his quarters are so you have to wait for him to come to you." Alfred explained.

"There's a whole Royal I knew nothing about." Alice smiled weakly,"Being queen is a lot of work and I haven't even gotten to actually being queen."

"What!? You're amazing!" Alfred exclaimed quite loudly. Alice felt herself blush again.

"No I'm not, I'm lousy at history, I can't remember what bloody fork to use, and I can't remember which past royal did what." Alfred shook his head.

"Memorizing people and things and forks isn't what makes you a great queen. It's how you want to do what's right and wanting to make Spades better. You want to learn the right things so you can serve your kingdom the best you can. That's the first step, everything else can be taught from a book. So stop saying you're a bad queen because I'm tired of that!" He playfully scolded. Alice looked to her teacup, blushing and smiling at the king's words.

"Thank you, Alfred. That means a lot." She said.

"Good, because it's true!" He dug into his pockets and pulled out the king's clock. It was the first time she had ever seen it in person. Her own clock was still sitting on the nightstand of her room. "Hey, I've gotta go to a meeting. Sorry to cut this short." He looked upset to leave.

"It's alright, I'll walk back with you." Alice offered. They abandoned their cups and tray, then walked back to the castle. He waved goodbye and Alice returned to her room. She found the book she had been reading and returned to garden, feeling that the garden would be her new favorite place to go on her off time. Later that day Yao found her for a lesson on previous wars. She actually knew a few from her history books, she must be catching on to at least something.

 **A blue chamber is a room that all but the owner, or owners are forbidden entry into. The term takes its name from the French fable of "Blue Beard," who stores the bodies of his murdered former wives in a locked chamber in his castle. This isn't that dark of a reference.**


	4. Bolt From The Blue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

Dinner that night began normally, Yao and Alfred chatted about his meeting while Alice tried to follow along. Then someone tapped her on the shoulder,

Alice jumped and looked behind her to see another maid.

Actually she wasn't a maid. Her dress was violet rather than blue, and it fit her perfectly rather than it being a generic size. Alice could remember the dresses she used to have to wear, the smallest size still being big, and having to tie the bow around her waist tightly. Each type of worker had a different style uniform, but Alice didn't remember seeing the brunette's often. The girl herself was tall and pretty, long light brown hair was tied in a side braid and she had green eyes a different shade from Alice's own.

"My queen,"Alice didn't like being referred to like that, it was weird. "If you have any free time tomorrow, please stop by the sewing quarters for measurements. If you need a guide I'll be happy to help."

"Oh- Um, thank you, but I know where it is. I'll make sure to do that tomorrow." Alice stuttered, she used to be on the same level as that girl and now she was her queen.

The brunette woman smiled and nodded, curtsying then leaving. "They probably just want to start on your coronation dress-aru." Yao mentioned before taking another bite.

"My coronation isn't for another three weeks." Alice returned.

"The seamstresses are very ambitious. The head seamstress is very into fashion, I'm sure she just wants to make sure it's the best dress she's ever created." Alfred added.

When the meal finished, Alice returned to her room and noticed a new dress just as amazing as the rest there along with a note pinned to the front.

 _Queen Alice,_

 _I just wanted to make sure Emilija found you and told you to stop by like tomorrow. I need some real measurements, I tried guessed for a while, but you're like really small. Anyway, I'm going to make sure you look totally fab! We'll talk some more tomorrow!_

 _Florentyna Łukasiewicz, Head Seamstress_

The whole Queen Alice thing was different. They seemed eager to see her, so Alice made sure that'd be her first thing tomorrow.

Sunday morning, after getting just slightly lost, Alice made her way to sewing room. There were loud laughs and talking from the inside she could hear from the hall, the room itself looked alive. Alice could do a little hemming and taking things in, she often had to because of her size, but nothing compared to these people.

Unsure exactly what to do, the queen knocked a few times. As soon as her hand left the door it swung open to reveal a tall woman. She had shoulder length blond hair that was parted in the middle and green eyes. She was dressed in the same dress as the girl from yesterday, Emilija. Although, after looking over the woman, Alice realized that she was in fact a he. The queen blushed in embarrassment.

"Like Your Highness!" He exclaimed happily, he took her hands and pulled her into the lively room. The walls were draped with different fabrics, mostly hues of blue and violet. It wasn't easy to tell what color the walls were actually. There were mannequins of various sizes and genders, some empty while others were full of fabric. Several sewing machines were in corners and there was a bunch of large tables either covered in papers of designs or other accessories. One wall had a rack of shoes that ranged from boots to heels to dress shoes. Rolls of lace and fabrics were stacked in another corner, a display of belts was next to it. One table held buttons and ribbons while the next held open books. Everything looked chaotic and completely put together at the same time, it was strangely comfortable.

In the center of it all were three woman, these were all actually woman unlike the man in the dress next to her. They all wore the same purple dresses, but also some had stitching in the aprons or extra ribbons and accessories. One of the woman was Emilija from yesterday, she seemed to be the calmest of the three. The middle girl was shorter than Emilija but taller than the last, she looked strangely like the blond man. Blond hair cut short and partly braided like a crown around her head and green eyes. The last woman really didn't look like a woman yet. She looked about fourteen, maybe slightly older. She had wavy short dirty blond hair with two bows on either side of her head and blue eyes.

"You're here!" The blond girl giggled. They all curtsied to her and Alice felt self conscious again. "I'm like the head seamstress, Florentyna Łukasiewicz! I left you the note. This is Emilija Laurinaitis, like my fab assistant seamstress, and that's Karina Galante, seamstress-in-training. And he's my totally amazing older brother, Feliks Łukasiewicz." She pointed to everyone in turn, the two other girls waved nervously but Florentyna and her brother were electric.

Alice nodded,"Nice to meet you all, I was told to you need to measure me?"

"Totally, you can only look fab if it fits you right!" Feliks exclaimed. In a whirlwind Alice was standing on a stood in the center of the rooms the all rotated her and measured her.

"You look overwhelmed, Your Highness." Karina said, she was measuring around her waist.

"I'm fine, but thank you. You're in training?" She asked.

"Yes, I want to become an actual seamstress, but I'm only sixteen and I have to be eighteen to be officially hired in the castle. Since a friend of my brother works in high position, he said I could be an intern for Florentyna. She's really talented. They all are actually." Alice couldn't believe she was actually sixteen.

"I'm sure you all are, I've seen the dresses you set out for me. They're all amazing."

"Oh like, really?" Feliks cut in, looking elated. Alice nodded he gasped dramatically and turned to his sister. "Florentyna! The queen said she likes our dresses!" He squealed.

The head seamstress looked up from her paper,"Like really?! Thanks so much, my queen! You're like a totally amazing model!" She giggled. "You know it's such a bummer that your coronation dress has to be your wedding dress! Weddings are totally the fashion it! But don't worry! I'll still make you the most amazing looking person there!"

"Thank you, Florentyna."

After they finished measuring her, Feliks helped her down from the stood and Alice wonder if she should go, the siblings were talking a mile a minute and the other two kept adding in their suggestions.

"You may leave if you'd like to, Your Highness." Emilija said in a normal volume, unlike the blonds.

"Do you need anything else?" Alice asked, looking at Feliks's big gestures.

"Just some earplugs." Alice smiled at the joke, she must a lot of patience to work with all of them all the time. "No, thank you, my queen. If we need anything else I'm sure Florentyna will send one of us up."

Alice nodded and quietly left, they seemed to busy with their planning. She returned to her bedroom but then decided to go to her garden. Alice spent most of the rest of the day there, happily relaxed.

The sun retreated behind the horizon and Alice returned inside for dinner then to bed. The next day Alfred was there for lessons and she was thrown into another busy week, then it became two. This time she got to sit in on a few meetings, they mostly discussed budget among other things. Chefs showed up asking what to put on the menu for her coronation and wedding. Alice just said whatever, everything they cooked was great, better than anything she made. The good times of the weeks were the less busy ones or the outside ones. Several times Alfred took her outside for lessons, those were fun, she preferred the ones where it was on a bench somewhere, so she could reach over next to Alfred and he could sit closely. The queen enjoyed his presence greatly. She got more when he was around, she liked to answer a question and look up and he's there grinning at her because she got it right. It wasn't until he took her out Friday afternoon she realized what this meant.

They were in the gazebo that was in the center of the hedge maze. Alfred knew his way around the maze perfectly because he had spent his childhood playing in it. The gazebo itself was octagonal, made of dark wood, and short. The king could touch the tallest inside part if he stood on his toes and stretched. The point of the roof had a wood spade on it. They sat in the center of the floor. Papers and books were scattered all over the wood planks around them.

"So! What does Hearts value the most?" Alfred quizzed.

"Love and compassion." Alice answered, he grinned and the butterflies in her stomach flew wild.

"How's that effect their Royals?" The king continued.

"The heir can be with whoever they want, it doesn't have to be another Royal. So that means Jack Feliciano, the heir of Hearts, can be with whoever he wants, as long as there's an heir in the end." Alice finished, peeking at him to test her correctness.

He nodded,"What about Diamonds and Clubs?"

"Diamonds value wealth the most. Often the wealthiest nobles' children are usually picked by the marks. Clubs values luck and fate the most. They believe that they are destined to be a royal, so that's why the mark appears at birth for them rather than later in life like the rest of the kingdoms. Is that all right?" The queen asked.

He beamed at her and tackled Alice in a hug. She let out an alarmed squeak as the king held her tightly. "That was perfect! See I told you! You're a great queen!" Alice didn't really understand his words beyond his hug. The butterflies had turned into a tornado and her face was as red as those rare roses that only grew in Hearts. But still Alice was happy, she loved his embrace, his touch, his warmth, his voice. In that moment, she realized she was in love with the King of Spades.

He broke away and she regretted it. The king and queen turned back to facing each other. Yao was right, they were soulmates, meant to bes, over the last three weeks she had slowly fallen in love with Alfred. With his laugh and his smile and his strength and everything in between. She had thought it couldn't happen, but of course she was wrong.

"Alice? You okay?" He looked concerned. She realized she had been staring at him, but how could she not? Everything about him seemed different now, a better different.

"Perfect, thank you." The king nodded, the sun had started to fall down the sky.

"We should clean up for dinner." He said and they collected their cluttered papers and stuffed them in books. The two returned to their rooms to prepare for dinner, Alice returned her book to the shelves they belonged on while she thought it over.

What did she do now? Should she even tell him? Before or after the coronation? Before the wedding had seemed so shocking, but now it seemed like a pleasant thing to look forward to, although she wished she had more time. She got marry the man she was in love with. There was the question of what Yao had said that day, too. The jack said Alfred had liked her before she was queen. But then they hadn't known each other like they did now. What if he didn't like her that way anymore, now that he knew her? Alice thought over it at dinner and the whole walk back. When she arrived at her room, she was ready to sleep, maybe in the morning this would make more sense, maybe she'd get some answers.

 **Bolt From The Blue means a sudden, unexpected event.**


	5. Blue-Eyed Boy

**Sorry this was so late, I've been super busy today.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

The next Saturday was calm as Alice tried to figure out something she could do. Then around noon, someone knocked at her door. Alice begrudgingly got up and opened the door to her bedroom, seeing it was the king.

"Alfred, are you here for another lesson?" Alice asked.

"Oh, I'm not Alfred, eh." He said quietly, the queen blinked.

"Who are you then?" She questioned.

"Ace, Matthew Williams Jones, you're just like what my brother said." The ace smiled softly.

Now that she looked at him, he did look different than Alfred. He had the same golden hair but it was slightly longer and a curl stuck up rather than a cowlick. His eyes seemed more purple than blue. He had glasses, too, and he was dressed in decent clothes, but nothing as nice as what the Royals wore.

"I am? Wait- He talks about me?" Alice exclaimed. The ace nodded.

"Can I come in, people'd probably think aboot who I am if they saw us together?" He asked, Alice opened the door wider to him and he entered.

"I'm sorry I mistook you for Alfred." She shut the door and looked back at him.

"It's fine, everyone does it at some point. Yao wasn't convinced until Alfred showed up and told him who I was." He talked softly, much different than his loud twin, and looked around the room.

"So.. Alfred talks about me?" Alice decided she was too impatient for any small talk, especially with her recent realization.

The ace chuckled,"All the time. You're more important to him than all of Spades." Alice blushed at that statement. "We meet for lunch sometimes, or when I'm bored I'll go to his study and play a game or something. Usually you're the topic of conversation. He's always saying how pretty and smart you are."

"Actually, I'm not, he's just nice." Alice returned.

Matthew shrugged,"I think he's in love. It's obvious. Do you feel the same way?"

"Yes."

"Good, maybe if you two get together he'll start focusing more on the country he's supposed to be running." Mattie teased.

"How would you suggest I tell him?" The queen suddenly asked, he looked surprised, then thoughtful.

"Hm.. I'd think just tell him. Don't beat around bush. He feels the same way, so don't be nervous. You know, I think he's free right now, go ask him out now." Matthew continued.

Alice immediately shook her head."No! I need to plan on what I'm going to say and where we'll go and-"

She trailed off at Matthew's look. "Just go and don't worry about it. Knowing him, he'll probably do most of the talking, eh." Neither moved. "I'm not leaving until you go ask him."

Alice sighed and left her room, she noticed Matthew following to make sure that's where she went. The queen stood outside the king's door for a minute, debating. "If you're messing with me Matthew, I'll kill you." She knocked.

It was quiet for a moment until Alfred opened the door to her. "Oh- Hey, Alice! Need something?"

"Are you free?"

"Yeah, mostly."

"Good, let's go." Alice for once took his hand first and led him to the staircase. She glanced behind her a second to see Matthew smiling and waving.

"Where are we going?"

"Um, out."

He laughed again. "Okay!"

They left the castle and walked past the gardens. There were woods surrounding the back of the Spadian Castle, with the front of the castle facing the capital. There was a clearing of tall grass and wildflowers that was in between the perfect gardens and wild forest. That's where Alice stopped, Alfred glanced around, then he just plopped in the overgrown grass. "Why'd ya' wanna come here?" He asked happily from the ground. The grass was looked as it was threatening to drown him. A breeze passed between them, swaying the grass and their hair, while she tried to find an answer. The queen didn't.

"I don't know," She sighed. "I wanted to find some place to tell you.." Alice trailed off.

"Tell me what?" Alice didn't answer, looking to the forest behind him. She looked behind her at the castle, it loomed over the peaceful outside. "Alice, tell me what?" The king repeated, sounding closer.

She looked back and he was suddenly in front of her. Alice squeaked at his sudden movement, then she recovered and took a deep breath. They were close, she could feel his breath. "I wanted to tell you I loved you."

He looked her over in surprise. They stood there for a while, the king inspected her expression and words. Then smiling the biggest smile she had ever seen, Alfred suddenly scooped her up, lifting her some off the ground and swirled her around happily and laughing.

"Ah! Alfred! Why'd you-!" She tried to sound stern but she rarely was around him and his happiness overtook her too. Alice hugged him tightly in fear of falling and for need of closeness.

He eventually set her back on the ground, both still hugging each other. "I love you, too!" The king exclaimed, smiling down at her, she still had her arms around his neck.

"Yes but- Why did you have- all of that!?" She returned loudly.

He oddly shrugged,"I've wanted to hear that for a while, I got excited."

"Idiot." Alice shook her head and rested it on his chest. "I love you."

They spent of their time together that afternoon talking more, telling about going through their feelings. True to what Matthew said, Alfred did like to talk about her at their lunches.

Eventually the two returned to the castle for dinner. Alfred told Yao that they were officially together and the Jack just responded,"About time-aru." Then they left dinner and they stopped at Alfred's door.

"So, am I allowed to take you on a real date tomorrow?" Alfred asked, still clinging to her hand.

"Sure, I'd love to." Alice played with her fingers behind her back.

"Okay, so 'night!" The king said, Alice nodded and got a few steps down the hall before Alfred grabbed her wrist.

The queen turned back to him in confusion and he had this childish smile on his face. "May I kiss you goodnight?" He questioned, Alice felt herself blush, but she nodded.

She had to stand on her toes to reach him, and he closed the gap between him. The queen wasn't sure what to expect from him, she didn't have much, any, experience in the kissing department. This was better than what she could've imagined, hard and obviously as inexperienced as she was, but it showed his feelings. Standing there in the empty hallway, she could feel how much he loved her, and Alice could only hope she got her feelings across to Alfred. It deepened some, yet they broke apart far too soon, both slightly out of breath. Both Royals were pink as they wished each other goodnight reminded the other of their love. Alice returned to her room, happier than she had ever been.

The next morning she woke up before Alfred arrived. The dress waiting for her was an indigo shade of purple, with a bateau neckline and an a-line skirt. It fell to her knees, and over the main fabric was a thin layer of golden lace. There was a pair of gold flats that matched the lace and some golden ribbons. It was perfect for the date, Alice wondered if Florentyna and her seamstresses knew about it.

The queen got dressed, left her room to go knock on Alfred's. A minute later the door opened to the king. "Hey, you're up early." He said, obviously not far from sleep himself.

"Did I wake you? Sorry, I thought you'd be up by now. I can go back to my room." Alice said and he shook his head.

"No, it's fine, I just have to get dressed, you can wait here." He invited her in, she remembered how she hadn't been in his bedroom since the day she passed out in front of him. "You can go wherever, I'll be just a minute."

Alice nodded and went to his study. It was just as messy as before, she looked to the books, most were just archives about nobles older than she was. The queen took the "K-M" book. She set it on the desk and started lazily flipping through its yellowing pages. He was taking a while, or maybe she was just inpatient.

She returned the book back to its slot on the shelf and peeked into his bedroom. Alice blushed at the sight. Alfred was shirtless, digging through his wardrobe and unaware of her watching. After a minute of, basically checking him out, Alice managed to pull herself away and recover her blush. The king returned to the study, ready to leave.

He took her hand and led her outside, that seemed to be best date place Alice noticed, outside was where everything happened. Then he entered the maze. It was taller than him.

"Alfred?" Alice tried to remember which way they were coming from.

"Hm?"

"You know how to get out of here, right?"

"Psh, totally! I memorized this maze before I memorized my multiplication facts!" He stopped at a corner. The ground was tiled with stepping stones like her garden, but that was all there really was to the corner. Alice glanced at Alfred, he was watching her expectingly. The king looked to the corner for one and his face fell. "Hey! Where'd it go!?"

"What?" Alice crossed her arms as the king dropped to the ground and started looking around the thorny walls.

"Ow!" He whined, pulling away and putting his thumb in his mouth, he probably pricked it. Alice smiled at Alfred. He could be so threatening or he could be so childlike.

Alice kneeled next to him. "You see," she took his hand and inspected his cut, it was bleeding slightly, but nothing horrible. "that's why you don't go digging through a bush with thorns." She playfully scolded, still holding his hand in hers.

"Yeah, but I wanted to show you it." He nonspecifically answered, looking disappointed.

"Show me what?" The queen played with his fingers as they talked.

"A red rose." Alice looked back at him in surprise.

"Those only grow in Hearts, though." She returned.

"No, they can grow here too, but they're super rare. I saw one a few days ago here, and I wanted to show you. But it's not here anymore." Alfred explained.

"Oh. Where do you think it went?"

"Probably dead or trampled."

"That's negative."

"I'm disappointed."

For some reason she didn't understand, Alice wanted to lean over and kiss him. So she did. He was a little surprised but returned the gesture fully. They broke apart and he was smiling again. The queen stood, still hanging on to his hand,"Come on, we can still walk around some, maybe it was just moved."

The two Royals kept walking through the maze carelessly, Alfred deciding what turns to take and where to go back. They talked of the coming royals, they'd be arriving on Friday and the coronation would be Saturday. He also said that they're all nice and she shouldn't have trouble with any of them.

"I just can't believe I've only been queen for a month, it feels like a lot longer than that." Alice sighed, casually walking along the king.

"Yeah, I've been king for almost a year and a half and it feels like it's been forever. Nothing was worse than those first months doing it alone." He shook his head at the memories.

"Right, I at least had you and Yao to help me."

"Yep!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her closer. Alice rolled her eyes but silently loved it. They stayed like that for a minute before Alfred spoke again. "Alice, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Alfred broke away from her side and took her hands, he kneeled in front of her. Alice was completely confused, Alfred looked nervous as hell. "I know that we've only actually been dating for like a day and I know that it's already been arranged, but I wanted to do this properly. I love you, I love everything about you, spending the rest of my life as your king would be my fantasy. So Alice, would you make me the happiest man ever, and marry me?"

Alice couldn't get any words out so she just frantically nodded and squeezed his hands tighter. He lit up, returning to his full height and hugging her tightly. They stayed together a little long after that, Alice was elated. The wedding seemed so exciting now. Later they had to be sociable for a meeting but then returned to the royal study for a random lesson that was probably mostly flirting anyway.

A Blue-Eyed Boy is a man who is liked and admired by someone in authority


	6. True Blue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

The week was similar to the three before it. There were last minute preparations for the other Royals arriving, the last of her lessons and plenty of other things to do in preparation. She was called to the seamstresses' quarters to do more measures and adjustments to her coronation dress.

Friday, she was woken up early by a maid surprisingly, usually it was Alfred waking her, and was told to get dressed. She'd be eating breakfast with the other Royals. The dress was midnight blue had an illusion lace top neckline and the skirt was to her knees in the front, but in the back it fell to her lower calves. It had bronze spades along the skirt like several others did, and a bronze ribbon to tie around the waist. There were bronze and brown boots to go with it. Alice quickly got dressed and tried to ignore her nerves. They had all said that these Royals were nice and just talkative.

She bumped into Alfred on the stairs. "You look nice. Nervous?"

"Yes. Was it this hard when you met the kings?" She asked. But even then he had one less, the king of Hearts hadn't been found yet. That just left King Ivan of Clubs, who was coming today, and King Francis of Diamonds.

"I'm not really in the same situation. I've known Ivan since we were kids, he's the heir of Clubs. I was usually stuck with him, Feliciano, and Vash at dinners and parties and all that royal stuff. They're all the heirs, Lilli was there too, but she's younger so usually she didn't usually play with us. And Francis- he's- kinda flirty." He fought to explain the Diamond king. That made her glad he wasn't coming this time. "But don't worry, really, they're all great rulers and nice people."

The two entered the dining room to see people already there. The most obvious thing was the different colors they wore. Two in shades of green, two in orange and yellow and one in red. A woman in green gasped happily.

She was the first one over to them, quickly curtsying and immediately smiling. She had light brown hair that was long and curly and warm green eyes that matched her almost ball gown. She also had a fur cloak that looked way too warm for spring Spades, but Alice knew that Clubs was cold at all times of the year. It seemed a little much for breakfast.

"Queen Elizaveta Héderváry of Clubs, Elizaveta is great, you must be Queen Alice!" She introduced happily.

Alice curtsied too,"Its nice to meet you."

"I was so excited when I heard Spades had a queen! I sent a message as soon as possible to find out when the coronation was! Oh and the wedding! I love weddings!" Elizaveta excitedly told as the man in red and the girl in yellow approached. Alfred had slipped off to the tall man in green she hadn't taken a good look at yet.

The man seemed reserved, he had dark hair cut short and dark amber eyes, he was dressed in a red and pink kimono, different but nice. The girl Alice didn't believe was actually queen until she remembered from her lessons. Diamonds didn't share the law of Spades that a royal had to be at least eighteen to be crowned. If someone with the mark was under age, they had to wait to be official crowned until their birthday. Alfred had been nineteen when he was crowned. In Diamonds, anyone could be crowned as long as they had the mark. The girl couldn't be older than sixteen. She was shorter, straight blond hair messily cut short, and almost empty mint-green eyes. She had a golden bow in her hair and wore a gold and orange long sleeve dress. The Jack of Diamonds lingered behind her, he looked similar to his sister, same short hair that was more neatly cut and threatening green eyes.

"Kon'nichiwa," The male queen bowed and the little queen curtsied as Alice returned the gesture. "I am Queen Honda Kiku of Hearts, Kiku is fine, this is Queen Lilli Vogel of Diamond. It as a pleasure to meet you."

"I like your dress, you can call me Lilli, too," Lilli added.

"Thank you, um, should we start eating?"

They all sat, Yao arrived at some point and greeted the other jack and the queens. From the meal she learned that Elizaveta was married to her jack, Rodrich, that was weird. Alice also learned that Kiku was not happy about leaving Feliciano in charge.

"He gets a little, distracted." Said the Hearts queen in the nicest way.

Lilli was only fifteen years old shockingly and her brother didn't let her go anywhere alone.

King Ivan had to be the most intimidating of them all, he towered over all of them. He had pale blond hair and violet eyes and a smile that would probably make death shiver. He wore thick green clothes, along with a scarf and gloves. While he scared Alice, Alfred didn't seem to be effected by the threatening man. In fact the two seemed to be carelessly insulting each other, it made her a bit more at ease that Alfred wasn't easily intimidated

Breakfast ended without any problems and the queens, and the Diamond Jack, went to her garden to chat more. Vash stood out of earshot, but still close enough, clearly protecting his younger sister.

"So I'll ask the question we're all dying to hear," Elizabeta began with a knowing smile,"Are you and Alfred together yet?" That was a little surprising, for someone she had only known for a day, but the Queen of Clubs seemed to like that.

Alice blushed slightly, glancing away before actually answering,"Yes, we actually knew each other before I was chosen to be queen."

"You were a maid, right?" Lilli asked politely.

"Yes, I cleaned his room and brought his food multiple times. It was different to be on the same level as him, much less in love. But I straightened out my feelings and I'm very happy I can be with Alfred." The two other female queens looked to each other, and Kiku smiled knowingly.

"So you were cleaning the room you're now sleeping in." The brown haired woman giggled along side Lilli. Alice felt her face flush.

"A-Alfred and I- we're not!" The Spadian sputtered, waving her hands at them. Elizabeta laughed.

"Oh I know! I'm kidding! But if I were you, I'd be excited for my wedding night." The green queen teased, Alice felt herself get redder. She knew that she and Alfred'd have to at some point, there had to be an heir. Still it was quite embarrassing to talk about.

"He is very handsome, I like his eyes." The Diamonds queen added, she seemed young for this conversation.

"Oh me too! You're so lucky, Alice! I love Roddy and everything, but Alfred's a cutie." Elizabeta said with a wink.

The rest of the afternoon was mostly just entertaining the queens, Kiku stayed fairly quiet and they seemed to be happy to talk about her. That meant telling basically her whole life story, which wasn't that enjoyable. Finally after dinner with the other Royals, Alice excused herself early. No one really complained, tomorrow would be a huge day for just about everyone, especially her.

The almost queen was successfully burrowed into her thick covers and just about to fall to sleep when someone knocked. Alice huffed into the pillow but got up anyway, this better be important.

It was Alfred again, he grinned when she opened the door. "Hey! Can I come in?"

"I was about to go to bed, but I suppose." He followed her inside and plopped on the bed.

"Tomorrow is the big day, huh?" The king began, she rolled her eyes at the obviousness of the statement.

"Nothing like being crowned queen and getting married." Alice returned sarcastically, sitting next to him on the thick blue blankets.

He looked a little disappointed, they were silent for a minute before he continued. "Are you still upset about marrying me?"

The almost queen felt her face flush,"W-what?" Alfred watched her, a mix of sadness and others she couldn't place. "I- er-" Alice took a deeper breath and collected her thoughts under his watchful gaze. "Alfred, I do love you, don't forget that, but marriage is still sudden. If I had a choice, I wouldn't be marrying you this soon. We've only really been together for a week..." She wasn't sure that was the answer he was expecting, because he looked crushed. Yes, she loved him, more than anyone else, she knew that much. Still, marriage seemed like a huge thing, she wanted to know him first, but Alice and Alfred didn't have that luxury.

"Sorry then." He murmured and stood, hurt.

Alice jumped up as he tried to leave. "Alfred!" She took his arm and he stopped not facing her. "Please understand this isn't about you. I love you, but is it wrong to wish for more time? It doesn't change anything anyway."

"I was excited about marrying you after our time together. I don't need more time to figure out that I love you enough to marry you." Each word stabbed her like a knife, she looked to the floor in shame.

"Alfred..." Alice began, but trailed off. She couldn't think of anything else to say.

"It's fine." He shrugged his sleeve from her grip. "We can't change that stuff anyway. Goodnight, Alice." He left.

 **True blue is to support something or someone completely.**


	7. Black And Blue

**Well well, look who finally decided to update. I've been busy and procrastinating, lots of stuff no one wants to here. I decided to post the last two chapters because I don't feel like waiting a week and I want to be done with this, it really was just supposed to be a one-shot but turned into eight chapters. I've already mentioned this, but the ending of this is not good, so don't expect much.**

 **I haven't completely been wasting my time, I started another story. It's Soulmate AU USUK, I'm about three fourths done with that, and I'm quite proud so look out for that.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

That could've gone better. The queen would've had to be blind to not see the hurt in his eyes. She stayed standing still in the middle of her room for a long while. It was cold. This wasn't right, she didn't want Alfred to be hurt or mad because of her uncertainty.

Alice already hated the sick feeling in her stomach, knowing how Alfred had been so sure. _He had known._ He had known she was the one. He had known for an absolute certainty, she was the one.

She had zno idea what she wanted! Then she had to go shoot him down with her fears and uncertainty! Alice clinched her fists, her nails making small crescent marks in her palms.

She was so stupid! How could she have doubted him? How could she have doubted them? She loved him, he loved her, they didn't need anything else. Alice didn't know what she would've been waiting for. Some magic thing to show up and tell her they were soulmates? She already was chosen to be queen. What else was there?

Alice had to fix this. She had shot him down, now he was hurt and it was her fault. The queen left her room, still dressed for bed, and entered the freezing hallway. It was around 11:00 at night by now, only guards would be up at this hour. Alice reached the king's bedroom door.

What should she say? What _could_ she say? Alice had basically told him that she didn't believe enough in their relationship. How could she even fix this?

The queen hesitated outside his door, one fist raised to knock as she pondered her mistakes. Maybe she just shouldn't say anything.

Something told her to knock and she did. It was silent in the large castle. The knocks crashed the silence, it was deafening.

He answered.

Alfred opened it to her and seemed surprised to see her, they had been over not to long ago. Without a word between them, Alice didn't trust the words, she kissed him. It was rushed, panicked almost, wanting to fix the things from before. Alice hoped it got across her apology, she hoped it got across her mistake.

He was surprised, tense, he was hurt and she just kissed him. She was just _brilliant_ wasn't she? Eventually, after standing there, locked together for a moment, he relaxed. The king pulled her closer and leaned down more to lessen the height difference, they were almost fully in his room now rather than the shivering hall.

Alice wasn't sure how long it was, but he broke away first, usually she did that. He looked down at her, she couldn't figure out the feelings she saw in his eyes. Her hands were cupping his face and he had his arms locking her in his embrace. Neither tried to move from this.

"I love you." Alice began. "More than anyone else, I love you. I'm sorry, Alfred. I don't know what I wanted to come to tell me you were the right one, the clocks already said we were soulmates. But I want to marry you, because I love you. I think I figured that out now."

"It's okay." The king began quietly. "I overreacted. I thought we were perfect but then you said you wished we had more time before the wedding and I had doubts." He whispered and shrugged unsurely, she could feel his breath on her skin. "Sorry."

"How'd you know I was the one?" She asked, her hands falling to his chest.

He smiled knowingly,"I just knew. I could tell, you were the only one for me. I'd marry you in a second."

That made her feel comforted, but still worse that she couldn't see that as easily as him. Alice sighed and rested her head against his chest and glared at the flooring and their feet. "I almost really screwed us up."

Alfred continued to hold her as he chuckled. "It's okay, we both almost really screwed us up. We both had doubts." He was too nice, really. "I'm sure there will be worse fights in the future." The future. It was far too unknown for her liking.

They continued to stand there, Alice was just thankful she didn't kill their relationship, and for the warmth and strength of his arms around her. "You know, if we're going to just stand here can we at least go in my room instead of the hallway?" Alfred asked in her ear.

She laughed at the sudden statement and he took her hand and led her fully inside. The king grinned and ungracefully plopped on his bed, he patted the spot next to him and looked at her expectingly.

The queen rolled her eyes but laid down next to him. It seemed just the same as before. When she had passed out after learning she was queen, it still seemed the same. Same scent that matched Alfred's, same softness, just a little warmer than last time. So much had changed between then and now.

"We should probably be sleeping." Alfred broke their nice silence.

"I'm too nervous to sleep." She rolled over to face him and he did the same, both watching each other. She had been so worried not too long ago, but now it seemed nothing would really ever get in their way again. "Is it wrong to be petrified about my coronation."

He laughed. "No! I bet my coronation was worse, though. You at least aren't running a kingdom all by yourself."

"You're right, but I'm still worried." Alice said, he reached for her hand and she allowed him to take it.

"Don't. I'll be there the whole time, so if you're scared, tell me and we'll go sneak off for a minute." The king assured with a warm smile then a yawn.

"Even in the middle of the crowning?"

"If you want, I don't care when." She yawned, too.

They both smiled and Alice suddenly remembered the conversation with the queens earlier. She felt her cheeks get hot as she remembered Elizabeta's words. "Alfred?"

"Hm?"

"Could I stay with you tonight?" He looked a little confused and then his face became pink. Alice immediately clarified. "J-Just like sleeping here! It's okay if you don't want me to! I just thought since tomorrow is so big and we're getting married and-"

"Sure." He answered happily, stopping her frantic explaining.

"Sure?" She echoed. He sat up and pulled off his shirt, then changed into a more comfortable one, she watched the whole time, although she scolded herself the whole time.

"Yeah, sure. I don't care, I was about to go to sleep anyway." Alfred returned to the bed and climbed under the thick covers.

Alice thought it over, it was definitely appealing, and he had said yes. The queen climbed under the tangle of blankets too. They turned out the lamps and that left them in darkness, the moon shining through a window provided just a little light. "'Night, Alice." He said.

"Goodnight. I love you." It seems to be the right thing to say.

"I love you, too." The queen was almost asleep when she thought she felt his arms around her, but it could've been a dream.

The next morning she woke up early, not to knocking but silence. It was perfectly calm and quiet. The morning sun shined through the window, yet the first thing she noticed was Alfred. He was still fast asleep, his arms wrapped around her stomach protectively. His chest was pressed against her back and his face was burrowed in her messy hair. She could feel his soft, steady breath on her neck.

This really was perfect, waking up like this. Alice could do this for the rest of her life. She would do this for the rest of her life, actually. She stayed there for a while, enjoying the simplicity of it all. The queen wondered what time it was, but the clock was on the other side of the room and turning to look at it would disturb the sleeping king. If someone really needed them, they'd knock.

At some point Alfred started to stir, he hugged her tighter then looser. Alice took the opportunity to turn around so she could face him. He took a minute to recover from sleep before opening his eyes to her. "Hey." He mumbled sleepily. She smiled at him and brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Good morning, love."

He grinned with a tired look. "I'm your love?"

"I suppose, we are getting married after all."

Alfred smiled bigger and wiped the sleep from his bright eyes. A second later he was sitting up and hugging her and attacking her with kisses. "Ah! Alfred!" He laughed and squeezed her against him planting one last kiss on her hair. "Should I go get dressed?"

"Probably, I'm sure the seamstresses want to make sure you look the best." Alfred said. That was true, over the last couple days, she had been summoned to the seamstresses' quarters for her coronation dress multiple times, but she still hadn't seen the final version.

They broke away eventually,"I'll see you in a bit, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there. I love you." The king answered.

"I love you, too." Alice reluctantly left, but she could've stayed in bed with him all day. Hopefully the future would let her do that someday soon. The blond returned to her room down the hall, but instead of anything waiting for her to wear, there was simply a note on the desk. A plate of breakfast was sitting next to it, she remembered Yao saying that they wouldn't be having a big breakfast since everyone was busy preparing for the event.

 _Queen Alice,_

 _You have to come to the seamstress quarters so we can make sure every thing is totally perfect! Get here soon, your big day starts soon!_

 _-Florentyna Łukasiewicz, Head Seamstress_

After reading over the note, Alice quickly ate the breakfast left out and made her way to the seamstresses' room, not bothering with much clean up. She knew anything she did would be fixed and perfected by the maids and seamstresses. Emilija let her in and the room looked slightly cleaner than the last time, but only if she squinted.

In a few minutes she was dressed and the three women and Feliks were revolving around her like planets, taking in, hewing, adding and taking away. Working together, they were done in ten minutes and pulled a mirror over for her to look at the final dress.

Alice wasn't sure she really deserved a dress this pretty. She still had no makeup and messy bed hair, so she didn't really fit the much nicer dress at the moment. The dress was a ball gown, falling to the floor rather than all the ones before it that barely went past her knees or higher. It had a semi-sweetheart neckline, Alice thought some necklace would be added later to fill the space. The dress was mostly a navy shade of blue, but toward to end of the skirt it faded to indigo. The top of the dress was mostly silver lace with diamonds intricately added along the waistline and other certain spots. Spades were hidden in the lace and diamonds, it was a subtle addition, other than that, there weren't any other spades anywhere in the dress. Alice wondered if they were real diamonds. The skirt fell smoothly, a touch of silver fabric blended in, but Alice wasn't sure how it was done. The back was tied together with silver ribbon and a medium sized bow was tied at her waist, the ribbons almost fell to the floor, too.

"How do you like it?" Karina asked, the other seamstresses had been watching her reaction hopefully.

"I love it, I just don't think I deserve it." The blond answered, they all laughed at her, but it was true!

"Oh please! You look totally fab!" Feliks gushed.

"Like a queen." Emilija added with a honest smile.

"Like totally, Em!" Florentyna agreed. "Well, our work here is done! Now you get to go through all the maids with like hair and stuff, but they'll be doing that in your room. Feliks, help her to her room and make sure she knows how to walk so she doesn't mess anything up."They all wished her goodbyes and Alice was slightly at ease with the bubbly seamstresses' complements.

It was just walking, yet Feliks was very quick to fix any mistakes she made. Alice had to stand straight up and make sure her arms were swinging the right way, it was just _walking_. They reached her room and maids were already waiting. The former maid didn't recognize any of them, she didn't think they were in the same section she had been in. She was thrown into make up and curling irons and bobby pins.

By the time they were finished, Alice only had about ten minutes to relax before the coronation started and she had to be in the throne room. She assessed her reflection in an attempt to calm her nerves.

The maids had made her look nicer than she could ever really remember being. Alice was a queen to them, she was just a dressed up maid to herself. They had called her hair style a Diamond braid into a messy bun in the back. Her messy bangs fell normally and there were a few pieces that were left out around her face that were curled. There were a few dull silver bobby pins that kept her bangs from falling in her eyes and kept the bun together.

They hadn't done much makeup on Alice's request. She didn't like the effort of it all, to not smudge the lipstick, or to add just the right amount of blush and eyeshadow. They had also wished to do something about her eyebrows, but she had said no to that too. There wasn't anything wrong with her eyebrows. They were just a little thicker than most women's.

The former maid sighed and sat on the corner of the bed. A few more minutes of silence, a few more minutes of not royalty. Over the last month everyone had addressed her as queen, but she knew that this was the seal. After today, she was truly queen. After today, it'd be too late to change any minds or choices.

It wasn't all bad. Alice met Alfred. Actual Alfred, not the king that everyone saw. The dresses were all nice, so was the food and the rooms. There was still the fact she had to run a country and have some heir, but this whole queen was better than Alice had thought it would be. She was wondering why she even had doubted in the first place. Her eyes fell to her hand, the mark hadn't changed since that first day a month ago.

There was a knock, and a voice spoke through the door. "Your Highness, you are needed in the throne room." There was the sound of retreating footsteps before she stood and smoothed down her skirt. Alice stared in the mirror a moment before she left, ready to be queen.

 **Black and blue is to be bruised physically or mentally.**

 **Also, a Diamond braid is just a French braid, but France doesn't exist in this universe so I changed it.**


	8. Into The Wide Blue Yonder

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

Alice hadn't been in throne room before. Alfred had said that they rarely even went in there anyway, more of a special event place. Yao and a few guards were outside the double doors when she arrived. They had gone over practice coronations a thousand times, Yao was to lead her down the walkway to Alfred and he'd crown her, since he was the highest ranking Royal.

Vows to Spades, then vows to Alfred.

"You look nice-aru." Yao greeted, Alice smiled nervously.

"Thank you. Is it time to go?" She asked, glancing to tall doors. He nodded and offered an arm.

Alice took it and a deep breath as the guards started to open the large heavy doors. "Don't be nervous. It's not that hard, I promise." Yao whispered as they opened completely to the room.

It was decorated with the Spades crest and all shades of blue and purple. Most people there were family of the Spade Royals or nobles, they were all wearing blues and purples too. The other Royals were all dressed in their own colors, standing out in the sea.

All the eyes looked to her, Alice paled. She knew pictures and sketches and the whole of Spades were watching her. The maid who became a queen, talked about for years to come. The blond searched the room for Alfred, and easily found him. Yao started to walk and Alice followed along.

The King of Spades stood toward the end of the walkway, he was dressed up more than she had seen him before. A dark blue suit with a black tie and a longer coat that had spades perfectly stitched on the corners, creating swirls around the ends. He also had indigo trousers and black gloves. The chain to his clock was hanging out one pocket. Usually she never saw him in anything more than a dress shirt and trousers. He told her once that he hated dress clothes, yet was forced to wear them even as a child. Alfred also had a silver crown resting on his golden hair. Sapphire and amethyst gems were perfectly placed in the silver and it looked far too old for him to still be wearing. A similar tiara sat on a pillow at the end of the walkway.

They continued to him, he grinned at her, it was reassuring. Alice still felt like she was going to trip on the rug. After forever, Yao released her arm and gave her a smile and a nod. He returned to a spot next to the carpeted aisle.

Matthew was there too. She wondered why he'd be there if he was supposed to be hiding his identity, then she remembered. He was still part of the royal family, he was allowed to be there. Or maybe he was there for Alfred. Maybe he'd be at the wedding too.

There was a step before Alice reached the spot she was supposed to be. From there she could easily look out at the faces peering at her. The queens all smiled, knowing exactly how she felt at the minute, Elizabeta winked.

Alfred said a few words, but Alice had already heard them during the practices and in private. The former maid wiped her sweaty palms on her dress, if Florentyna knew, the seamstress would probably kill her. He finished and stepped up to her, that meant vows were next.

"Do you, Alice Kirkland, wish to take the vows to the Kingdom of Spades?" He began, sounding regal and strong, yet his eyes were sweet and caring. She suddenly didn't feel as nervous anymore.

"I do."

"Do you vow to uphold the laws and honor of the Kingdom of Spades, to the rest of your days, governing the people by their customs, needs, wishes, and traditions?"

"I do."

"Do you vow to protect the interests of the Kingdom both at home and beyond?"

"I do."

"And do you vow to use your power and title as Queen of Spades to bring justice and prosperity to all Spadians?"

"I do." That was a lot of I dos. With that, he took the silver tiara and set on her head, then handed the queen's clock to her right hand. The clock's back matched the mark on her hand. It began to tell time again.

"I present, the last of the Spadian Royals, Queen Alice Kirkland of Spades!" Alfred exclaimed. They both turned from each other to the people of the room. They all clapped and cheered, the cameras snapped pictures of their new queen. Her insides fluttered as she smiled to them. It was extremely overwhelming, but their excitement made her feel better.

Slowly, the nobles and other Royals started to leave for lunch. Then it was just her and Alfred. Yao told them to not be late as he shut the door, leaving them alone together.

As soon as the large door creeped shut, Alfred had her in an embrace. How he could so easily change from the King of Spades to _her Alfred_. "That was so great! Congrats, Alice!" He hugged her closely, and Alice took a minute to return the gesture. She loved how it felt in his arms.

"It was scary." She smiled, they broke apart eventually and he grinned at her.

"You were great, very queen-like!" The king teased, Alice rolled her eyes.

"I don't feel any different, queen or not." She smoothed her dress. "Despite the heavy crown."

Alfred laughed and Alice ended up joining him. "No but really, you did great and looked just like a queen. Super beautiful too."

She blushed a little before shrugging. "We should go shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, probably." Alfred offered his arm and she took it.

The lunch was uneventful. Alice spent most of it chatting with the other queens, they all complemented her dress and her performance during the crowning. All she did was stand there and say two words. The wedding was still in the back of her mind, as that was next.

Eventually dessert was rolled out and picked up and she was rushed into another room for an adjustment of her hair and dress for the wedding. She wasn't sure which was more nerve-wracking, the coronation or the wedding.

"Are you all right, Your Majesty?" Emilija asked. She had come to inspect her dress and now was sitting with the nervous queen.

"Just nervous." Alice answered with a deep breath.

"If you don't mind my curiosity, what is your relationship with King Alfred at this point?" She questioned respectfully.

"Oh," Alice thought everyone knew about her and Alfred. "He and I are together. It still hasn't been long, though. I know I want to marry him, I love him more than anyone. But no matter how confident I am in our relationship, weddings can still be frightening."

The seamstress smiled,"That is a good explanation. I can tell you two care very much about each other."

Alice nodded. Someone told them it was time to go. Emilija offered her the bouquet of flowers at the door. It was made up of roses, but instead of the, all being blue, there were red, blue, and lavender shades. Red roses. Not many, four, but they were red roses, Alice hadn't ever seen red roses before. The seamstress noticed her surprised at the flowers.

"The king specifically told me to but these in your bouquet, he said he found them in the maze, just in time for the wedding." Alice smiled, imagining Alfred doing all that, and remembering how crushed he was when he couldn't find the red rose to show her.

"That seems like something he'd do." She returned, then looked to the brunette.

"I think you should go,"She gestured to the door. This time, no one would be walking her down the aisle. Her father was dead and her brothers didn't care, and she was the Queen of Spades, she could give away herself.

"You'll be watching, right?" Alice questioned, the calmer seamstress had become a friend in someway.

"I wouldn't miss it for all of Spades, besides, Florenryna _has_ to have some ideas for her own." She smiled.

"She's getting married? Since when?" Alice exclaimed, the doors starting to creep open.

" _We're getting married._ " Emilija held up her left hand to show a golden ring with a few small diamonds. Alice didn't have too long to react, as the doors opened to reveal her to the room, Emilija just grinned and mouthed,"Good luck."

Alice didn't look over the crowd like she had before, that just made her more nervous. Instead she found the only gaze that really mattered, Alfred's. He was grinning at her as he was before. She walked slightly faster this time, no one to accompany her and ready to get married. Matthew was there, behind his brother and smiling at the two of them. She noticed how she didn't feel as scared about this anymore. Alice handed her bouquet to Lilli, she was sitting by the aisle. Both the Diamonds and Clubs queens looked close to tears. Alfred took her hands and Yao began the vows, Alice payed attention some, but it was hard to when she kept tuning out by staring in his eyes. It was hard to not get lost in them.

He said,"I do." And she followed with the same.

"I do."

"You may now kiss the bride." She felt his smile against her lips and the cheers of the other people sounded so far away.

The excitement of the wedding melted into the ball afterwards, Alfred insisted on dancing with her until they couldn't feel their feet anymore. The new queen also threw the bouquet to the other women, Florentyna caught it and tackled Emilija in kisses.

She laughed and talked with the guests, most of it was just congratulations on marriage and being crowned. Other than that, she enjoyed the evening with her husband, it was odd to call him that, but she'd get used to it.

Alice and Alfred escaped the party as it started to draw to a close, the Royals retiring to their rooms and the work staff starting to clean up.

Alfred led her to his room, sneaky kisses and smiles along the way. Why had she been so scared of this before? It seemed stupid now, kissing him lazily as they were too tired to do anything much else.

He wrapped his arms around her under the thick covers. "I love you." The king snuggled his face in her messy hair.

Alice caught a glimpse of her queen's mark, then the queen smiled. "I love you, too." His king's mark found its way next to hers. They seemed to match.

The End

 **Cheesy ending because I didn't feel like writing it all out, I'll probably go edit it later.**

 **Last chapter idiom thing, if you go into the wide blue yonder, you go somewhere far away that seems exciting because it is not known.**


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